The Blue Jays, I believe, are the only MLB team not to make the playoffs this century.

There was 3 scenarios today of game results that would've required a game 163, but none of them materialized. That would've been weird having 3 game 163s.

The 1st place Orioles, having already made the playoffs, threw Derek Jeter (right-handed batter) an outside batting practice fastball while playing their 2nd baseman directly behind 2nd to hold the runner. WTF!? This resulted in Jeter getting his 7th walk off hit of his career, his last game at Yankee stadium. It was the only walk off hit of his career where the other team won the division (obviously not a stupid team) while playing a hall of fame slap hitter to pull the ball. Unrelated, it's really easy for a hall of fame slap hitter to hit a batting practice outside fastball to where the 2nd baseman should be standing.

Toronto sports teams should be embarrassed. The ownership group mostly includes Bell, Rogers, Bell and Rogers. Go Leafs Go!

David Clarkson is suspended for 10 games. I'm guessing that Lupul will move back
to LW, Raymond down to 3rd line and Kulemin back to RW when Clarkson returns as
the 2nd line RW.

McLaren currently has a broken finger. McLaren will slot in on the 4th line when
he returns.

Assuming he clears waivers, John Michael Liles can be called up at any time when
he fits into the salary cap. If Rielly is sent down to juniors, then Liles fits
in. If Ashton Cater is sent down, then Liles fits in, but they would be carrying
8 d-men. If Ranger is sent down, then Liles fits in.

Update: I don't understand why you would keep Ranger over Liles. I assume, if Liles is claimed, then the Leafs bring up one more forward. Otherwise, Liles is kept on the team and Ranger is sent down.

A series by series predictions for the 1st round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and
a glimpse into the next 3 rounds. The NHL playoffs since the 2004-05 lockout has
been a unpredictable beast. You make the playoffs on the last day of the regular
season and you find your way to the Stanley Cup finals. What makes a good
regular season team is clearly not what makes a good playoff team. Here's my
sense of what might happen this playoff season.

Wild v Blackhawks

The Minnesota Wild have badly underperformed and scratched their way into a
playoff spot. That said, a hot goalie and some timely scoring might give them a
chance. But goaltending and scoring have not been their forte this season. They
do have some grit with
Cal
Clutterbuck, but on the whole this team is soft. Not a recipe for winning
the Lord Stanley's mug. An underdog to win a series and a longshot to win it
all.

And the Wild are playing the recent Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks. The
Hawks are loaded with talent;
Jonathan Toews,
Patrick Kane.
Their was the question of goaltending at the start of the season, but
Corey Crawford
has been great. The consensus is that the Hawks are the team to beat in the
West.

Winner: Blackhawks

Red Wings v Ducks

This isn't the Red Wings we knew in years past. There's no Nicklas Lidstrom. End
of story. It's just not the same team.

The Ducks have been an off-and-on team for years with
Ryan Getzlaf
and Corey Perry.
They even won a Stanley Cup a few years back. I don't think this team has the
depth to make it far in the playoffs, but I do think they have enough to handle
the Wings. Saku
Koivu and
Teemu Selanne are getting older by the day.

Winner: Ducks

Sharks v Canucks

For the 1st time in a long while, the Sharks aren't expected to do anything this
playoff. They're suppose to boy out to the much better Canucks. And with
perenial non-playoff performers like
Joe Thornton,
they have every excuse. But remember, they are very deep in talent and someday,
if Joe is willing, they might surprise in the playoffs. And don't forget, that's
a Cup winning goalie between the pipes;
Anti Niemi.

The Canucks are very much like the Sharks of a few years ago. Some playoff
success, but everybody expected so much more. And because of injury, they'll be
starting the playoffs with long-time playoff disappointment
Roberto Luongo
in net. Whichever team loses this series, will cement their reputation as
playoff losers.

Winner: Canucks

Kings v Blues

An extremely talented team that should have little problem taking care of the
Blues. But I'm not sure a team led by the party boys (Jeff Carter
and Mike
Richards) can make it two years in a row. I'm thinking the hangover from
last summer hasn't quite warn off yet.

The Blues are... well... a blue colar team. No stars and a lot of names even I
don't recognize. Just a lot of hard work. Their goaltending load was split
between three goalies. It's very rare that teams with no talent advance in the
playoffs.

Winner: Kings

Islanders v Penguins

The worst run organization in the NHL made the playoffs on the back of their one
superstar
John Tavares. That's about as far as they'll get. I doubt they could handle
an injury riddled Penguins lineup in a seven game series. And the Pens are
getting healthy.

If Sidney Crosby
returns to the form he displayed early this year, then we might see a 16 game
winning streak. Unless... remember last year... total collapse of the
flower.

Winner: Penguins

Senators v Canadiens

Senators played way over their heads all year. Now they have a healthy
Erik Karlsson
and Craig
Anderson. They can steal a round, at most.

The Canadiens are looking back between the pipes and putting their faith in
Carey Price.
A career 8-15 playoff record. This might be Price's last chance. If he falters
again, then the fans in Montreal might start calling for a change.

Winner: Canadiens

Rangers v Capitals

I really liked the makeup of the Rangers at the start of the season. Things
didn't go as expect and the team was rebuilt mid-season. Mid-season of an
already short season.
Henrik
Lundqvist could put the team on his back lead them thru a few playoff
rounds, but I doubt it. Teams rebuilt mid-season rarely go anywhere in the
playoffs.

Alex Ovechkin
is on fire and we're heading into the playoffs. This team is gonna live and die
on his stick. I don't see much problem dispensing the Rangers. Then... in the
2nd round, it's OV time or bust.

Winner: Capitals

Leafs v Bruins

As a long-time Leafs fan, what a relief. Playoff games. Everything sits on
James Reimer's
shoulders. They're a tough and fast team that can score. Can they keep the puck
out of the net? Reimer did it all year.

The Bruins are either the toughest team in the playoffs or the 2nd toughest. And
the Leafs are either the toughest or 2nd. Expect a lot of hitting. Fighting.
Injuries. Whomever wins is likely gonna get beat the next round anyway. This is
war.

Here are my choices with a couple games left in the NHL season for the
individual award winners. In a couple cases, my choice is partial based on the
assumption that the team will or will not make the playoffs and if that changed,
then my opinion would change. But I doubt it. You'll find my choices a little
different that the conventional people who think they know hockey.

Hart

Had Craig
Anderson not been injurred, his sneeking the Senators in the playoffs with a
1.71 GAA and .941 SV% would've won him the Hart, but I can't give it to a goalie
that only played half the season? Can I? Without Anderson's heroics early in the
season, this injury riddled team could very well be competing for the 1st
overall pick in this summers entry draft instead of being in the playoff race.
Still, I can't believe

How about a forward that played only 3 quarters of the season?
Sidney Crosby
was still leading the NHL in scoring and 2nd in assists with 3 games left in the
season. His linemates are #1 and #2 in the plus-minus leaders (he's currently
4th) and he's in the top 15 in faceoff wins.

Can you give it to two forwards,
Martin St
Louis and
Steve Stamkos, who may win the Art Ross for most points while leading their
team to a lottery pick instead of a playoff spot? These two players rank last
and 2nd last on their team in plus-minus for forwards. This isn't new territory
for this pair. These are two players that I would absolutely not consider for
the Hart. In fact, I doubt this team will ever make the playoffs until they
break up their core group of offensive players who don't skate in their
defensive zone.

Alex Ovechkin
is by far the Hart winner in the 2nd half of the season, but is that enough to
overcome a very bad start? Remember 2 months ago when everybody was saying OV
was washed up? Now he's gonna win yet another Rocket Richard trophy and is a
prime candidate for the Hart as well.

Other players I would consider voting for are
Ryan Getzlaf,
Jonathan Toews
and John
Tavares. All four elevated their teams to new heights this season, but none
stood out as much as Crosby or Ovechkin.

Winner: Sidney Crosby

Vezina

Let me start by repeating the same argument that Craig Anderson would've won
here too had he not been injured.

That said, people are starting to talk about
Sergei
Bobrovsky as the prime candidate for the Vezina. And I agree. Without
Bobrovsky, the Blue Jackets would not be in the playoff picture.

I'm also gonna make a case for another goalie that took a team that hasn't made
the playoffs in a decade into the playoffs this season;
James Reimer.
In the game that clinched the playoffs for the Leafs, they were outshot 50 to 22
by the Senators, yet won the game 4-1 on 49 saves by Reimer. Getting outshot
isn't a rarity in Toronto these days (years).

Norris

He's hated, just as much as he's loved, but this year he became a true all-star
and Norris candidate;
P.K. Subban. He
hits hard, he leads all d-men in goals and points and has a nice plus-minus to
boot.

How about Brooks
Orpik? If he could only score. But how about 10th in hits and 6th in blocked
shots? This guy is a true unsung warrior.

And then there's
Dion Phaneuf. Twenty-sixth in blocked shots, 6th in hits, 6th in points, 3rd
in goals, 5th in ice-time. Now those are some impressive numbers.

Ryan Suter is
another possibility, but his team has under-performed even with Ryan playing his
best season yet and they don't look playoff bound.

My finalist are Phaneuf and Subban.

Winner: P.K. Subban.

Calder

Jonathan
Huberdeau leads all rookies in goals and points and he's nearly leading a
bad Florida offense in both categories as well.

Justin Schultz
leads all rookie defensemen in goals, assists and points, but he does have a lot
of offensive help on a very talented Oilers team.

Cory Conacher
is a nice story and does lead all rookies in assists and points. That said, he
accumulated most of those points playing along side the offensive-minded
Lightning.

I'm deciding between Huberdeau and Schultz.

Winner: Justin Schultz.

Lady Byng

I don't really care.

Selke

This is by far my favorite award. Mostly because I think it's histerical that
the most recent winner of the award doesn't even play much on his teams short
hand unit.
Pavel Datsyuk may very well win this award again, but in my opinion he isn't
even in the top 20 best defensive players in the NHL. If he's so good defensive,
then how come he only ranks 3rd on his team in short-handed ice-time per game
for forwards? And how can you even give the award to a player that isn't played
much in defensive situations like power plays?

Let's look are real defensive players, not just great offensive players who are
reasonable defensively. The real great defensive players are those that hog most
of the short-handed ice-time and are on the ice in the last minute when your
team is winning by a goal.

This guy should've won the Frank J Selke most every year he's been in the NHL.
No other player even needs to be named. He leads the league in short-handed
ice-time by a forward with 163 minutes. No other player has more than 131. In
those 163 minutes, the power-play has only 11 goals. His new team joined this
season had their penalty kill go from 24th last year to 3rd best this year. He
plays every shift against the other teams best offensive players and maintained
an even plus-minus. And does he play in the final minute in one goal games? He
must. He has 3 empty net goals this season. No player since Michael Peca has
scored such a high percentage of his games into empty nets (just saying, didn't
double check that stat).

Adams

The Ottawa Senators have been devastated with key injuries, yet the team still
managed to stay in the playoff hunt. Paul MacLean deserves consideration for the
Adams for holding this team together all season.

John Capuano deserves a gold medal for managing to put the worst managed hockey
organization in the NHL into the playoffs. His team has Tim Thomas, Alexei
Yashin and Rick Dipietro accounting for $11-12 million of the cap space. Without
these players, who aren't even on the team, they wouldn't meet the CBA team
salary floor for 2012-13.

The Columbus Blue Jackets suck. If they make the playoffs then Todd Richards is
another candidate for coach of the year. This team is made up almost entirely
from players unwanted otherwhere in the NHL.

All three coaches have taken a bad team to the promised land.

Winner: Paul MacLean.

GM of the Year

The Penguins added Jarome Iginla, Jussi Jokinen, Douglas Murray and Brenden
Morrow to an already stacked team. Ray Shero must be using a different math then
the other General Managers in order to fit so many stars into the same salary
cap every other team struggles with. Their backup goalie Tomas Vokoun is better
than most NHL starting goalies and he signed him for next to nothing.

Not as impressive as the Penguins, but the Bruins added Jaromir Jagr and Wade
Redden at the deadline. Peter Chiarelli also managed a very skillful trade to
free up salary room by trading Tim Thomas to the Islanders. The trade was
clearly made to circumvent the salary cap for both teams, as the Islanders were
under the salary floor and the Bruins needed some room to work with.

I can't put my finger on a 3rd GM that stood out as much as these two.

Let's take it to the owners. Let's hurt them where it really hurts. I know a fan hockey walkout won't work. Leafs fan will line up at the door for every game, no matter how long the strike lasts. Let's hurt them where it really hurts. The Leafs are owned by Rogers and Bell. I'm sure many teams are owned by companies. Let's turn our anger on them.

Who won? Lot's of team. Forget all the small trades, let's go thru the big ones. I'm only going to discuss those made on trade day.

Maxim Lapierre and stuff for Joel Perreault and stuff. Pretty simple. Maxim has performed in the playoffs and here's another chance for him to do it again. Canuck fans are exhausted with regular season success and playoff disappointments. Canucks win!

Chris Higgins for stuff. Call this a draw. Florida isn't gonna win the Cup, so might as well get some future. Canucks get more depth. Draw.

Dennis Wideman for stuff. I win here. I have Wideman in the hockey pool. His big minus was killing me. He'll score more and his plus-minus should improve. Anybody with this guy in a hockey pool wins.

Radek Dvorak for stuff. Seems like a nothing trade. Trashers are not gonna win the Cup and are unlikely to even make the playoffs. Thrashers lose!

Brad Boyes for a 2nd. Good for both teams. Sabres need more goals. Blues need to build a future. Draw.

Bryan McCabe for stuff. Great pickup for the Rangers. Florida really brought in a lot of picks and prospect from all their trades. Draw.

Otherall winner is Florida. Picking up Evan Oberg, Samsonov, Hauswirth, Bergfors, Rissmiller, Kennedy and three 3rds. No blue chip prospects, but a lot of them. Unloaded salary and they are gonna suck for the next 20 games. Sign players in the off-season and start all over. I like it. Fans aren't gonna like the remainder of the season. But this is how you build. Brian Burke?

It rained a bit at the start of the race and delayed it a half hour. The person in front of me packed up their RV and took off. I pulled into their fenceline spot. Last year, we were in spot 6. This year, fenceline spot 7.

From row seats.

Jimmie sucks! Just like my Leafs.

I think my awning needs some major repairs.

The Biff won the race. His victory celebration.

Supper time. I love charcoaling.

Then we shared a campfire with the neighbors. I had so much wood left. Needed to burn it.

Beauchemin, Kaberle, Komisarek, Phaneuf are their top 4. Gunnarson and Schenn are the kids trying to crack the top 4. Somehow, we still have to move Finger's salary. We moved Blake.

Forwards

Bozak

Grabovski (injured)

Kessel

Kulemin (RFA)

Mitchell (RFA)

Orr

Ponikarovsky (UFA)

Primeau (UFA)

Rosehill

Sjostrom

Stempniak (UFA)

Wallin (UFA)

Grabovski is the only scoring center and he's injured. That's a big hole that needs to be filled. That makes Tyler Bozak the only player on the roster that fits the mold of a scoring centerman. I have to believe that Stempniak will be traded shortly. Poni, on the other hand, may be in Burke's longer-term plans. Mitchell, Primeau and Wallin can't like the acquisition of Sjostrom. Do we really need another non-scoring centerman?

I have to congratulate the Blackhawk fans in signing Toews and Kane to 5 year extensions. On the other hand, I don't understand why teams don't learn from previous long-term contract failures like Dipietro and Yashin. Keith got a 13 year extension? I'm gonna bet that the Hawks buy him out in the future and incur an extremely lenghty salary cap penalty. The Islanders look stupid right now with an injury prone goaltender consuming large amounts of cap space. The Islanders also look stupid with Yashin still on the books, having not played the last two years. The Hawks are in salary cap hell already and the combination of these three signings put them up against the cap for ever going forward. They will be dumping players to make the cap annually.

On the other hand, with Toews and Kane, they'll be competitive for years to come. Better than the Leafs or Isles or Canes.

Rangers

The Rangers are off to a great start. Nothing new. Lunqvist does this every year. Don't credit anybody but Lunqvist and laugh at hockey analysis who make anything of the Rangers fast start. Lunqvist comes back to Earth as the season wears on him.

Senators

If Leclaire keeps it up, then expect the Sens near the top of the Northeast division.

Capitals and Penguins

The Pens and Caps will shoot it out again for the conference title.

Sabres

If Miller remains healthy, then the Sabres are playoff bound.

Thrashers

Great start. Maybe they can make the playoffs. Maybe. It's 50-50.

Devils

Still getting worse and relying on Brodeur more than ever. Brodeur will likely get them into the playoffs yet again. Someday he won't.

Flyers

Amazing team outside of management and goaltending. How do you put Randy Jones up for grabs? How do you gamble on the Emery headcase? If Emery doesn't implode the team, then they make the playoffs.

Bruins

Should easily make playoffs. GM is executive of the year for the Kessel trade. Last 12 months have put them into Stanley Cup contention for the next 10 years.

Lightning

They can't play defense. I feel sorry for their goaltenders.

Hurricane

Getting old. Need to surround Cam Ward with younger players. This is likely a good year for them to exit from the playoff picture and get a good draft pick. Ward may make that difficult.

Panthers

They suck again.

Canadians

Too much change in team personel, plus Andrei Markov not heathly, equals a lot of unfair doubt on Carey Price's skill and no playoff.

Islanders

The Isles will never make the playoffs until Garth Snow is fired.

Leafs

This franchise is turning into a joke. The Ducks cup win obviously had little to do with Brian Burke.

Here's my eval of the Leafs this season. Brian Burke has turned out to be an idiot. Toskala sucks! Kulemin sucks! Primeau sucks! Stempniak really sucks! Mayers sucks! Blake really sucks! When your GM, starting goalie and 5 of your forwards suck or really suck, then you will lose a lot of games. Kulemin, Stempniak and Blake are three of our best scoring forwards and have three points combined over 18 games played. Somehow, Wilson benches Stajan and Hagman, our top and goal scorers and point producers. Wilson, have you watched Stempniak and Blake? Both play so far from the oppositions net that they might as well be in the pressbox. Oh wait, I forgot, Ron Wilson sucks too! He won't get fired because his friend is the GM. I'm guessing this off-season has set the Leafs Laughs back another two years. Maybe we'll make the playoffs in 2012.

Here are one person's thoughts with regards to making the NHL more entertaining for him. There’s nothing in here that would be remotely appetizing to the 30 votes that matter.

Reduce the number of players dressed per game to 18. This effectively removes less skilled players.

Reduce the number of teams to 20. This effectively removes less skilled players.

Reduce the number of games played per week to 3. This effectively allows for better rested players, where games per week are currently 3.5.

Reduce the number of regular season games. I’m flexible with regards to the exact number of games. A minimum of 50 games would certainly let the cream rise to the top without bumping those quality teams that go on a 3 week swoon. The number, however, should not become so high that the outcome becomes too predictable for the majority of the teams. That just might make 70 games the maximum.

I prefer a balanced schedule, although I’m well aware that most enjoy playing local teams more often

Reduce the number of teams that qualify for the playoff to 8, with 3 7 game rounds. 5 games might be sufficient; however I can not get my mind to think of a playoff round being other than 7.

1st seed will play 8th seed, etc…

I prefer that these 8 seeds are the top 8 teams in the NHL with no preference being offered to division and conference. I am well aware that some may lose interest if no one from their region was competing in the playoffs. Perhaps my opinion is one from the east end of our continent.

I should be noted at this point that with a balanced schedule and no seeding preferences the concept of division and conference adds little to our world

No playoff round is to begin before the previous round is complete

Playoff games will be scheduled such that you are playing every 2nd day, where each team is to get at least 1 day off. This last point is important between rounds.

3 week training camp seems sufficient

Time off for Xmas, All-Star break, between regular season & playoffs, for Olympics & World Cup can easily be accommodated

No expansion to Winnipeg, Québec, Halifax. In the new 20 team NHL teams such as Edmonton & Calgary will be considered weak in many respects. Although I did intend on staying away from any reasoning of this sort.

West division

Vancouver

Calgary

Edmonton

Los Angeles

Colorado

Midwest division

Detroit

Chicago

Minnesota

Saint Louis

Dallas

Southeast division

Boston

New York Rangers

New York Islanders

Philadelphia

Pittsburgh

Northeast

Montréal

Ottawa

Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto 2nd

Buffalo

What undermines everyone’s effort when entertaining any conversation that puts forth anything resembling the above is the idea that you can sell it. Don’t! You can’t! It’s purely entertainment!

If you want a team in Hamilton, then we need to stand up against the people who are truly fighthing this. That's the Toronto Maple Leafs. Again, I'm not asking you to forfeit Leaf tickets as that would never work. Instead, I'm asking you to tell Toronto FC, the soccer team owned by the same MLSE as the Toronto Maple Leafs, that you won't buy tickets until there's an NHL team in Hamilton. Unfortunately, TFC doesn't have any electronic contact method, so the best we can do is put a messages on their Facebook fanpage. Please goto the fan page and write that you won't buy tickets until there's a NHL team in Hamilton.

How do we get a team in Hamilton? Stand up to the NHL. Stand up to the Leafs. I'm not gonna bother asking people to forfeit their Toronto Maple Leafs tickets because that's pointless and I doubt you'd do it anyway. Instead, I'm asking you to hit the Maple Leafs where it might actually hurt; the Raptors. You see, both teams are owned by the same parent company.

I'm asking you to send a message to the Raptors and tell them that you refuse to buy any more tickets to Raptor games until there is an NHL team playing in Hamilton. Go to the following webpage.

Click the Ticket information or Fan mail contact link or BOTH (yes, do both). Their security certificate is invalid, so you might get a warning. Ignore the warning and continue. Submit your name, email and a short message telling the Raptors that you will not buy another Raptor ticket until there's an NHL team in Hamilton.

It's too bad that the media simply reports the lies coming from the NHL about the Coyotes. It wouldn't take much courage to sit there and being laughing at them. Sure the NHL would black-balled you, but you represent integrity. When they report stuff like this, then you should laugh.

Weeks ago, the NHL reported they were not in control of the Coyotes. When the Coyotes declared bankruptcy, the NHL changed their mind and claimed they had taken control of the team from the owners. A month later, the courts disagreed as the NHL couldn't produce the documents they claimed to have.

Then the NHL claimed they controlled the rights to a second southern Ontario team and that this had nothing to do with the Sabres or the Leafs. Yet how many teams have moved in the last 10-20 years? Hartford? Winnipeg? Quebec? Dallas? How many times have we heard rumors of southern U.S. teams moving to Kansas City? Why was it made public that the Leafs would allow a 2nd Toronto team solely if they paid rent at the ACC? Why did some U.S. politicians petition the courts with concerns about the Sabres franchise?

Everybody knows it's just the NHL being the NHL again. Just as they did with Nashville (which is still in trouble). The Trashers are still in trouble. The Leafs gave $millions to the Lightning late (also in trouble) in the season and Bettman didn't seem to have any problem with that blatant circumvention of the NHL rules.

Why does the NHLPA put up with the NHL protecting broken teams at the expense of their revenue share?

I know why! Too many chickens. Nobody with the guts to stand up to Bettman, the Leafs and the Sabres. What we need is someone with the balls to do it. Like Balsillie. He's the solution to the current NHL problem. Let's support him. And let's stand up to the NHL and tell them that we want a team in Hamilton. Let's stand up to the Leafs. Let's stand up to the Sabres.

If you were Brian Burke, then what would you do in the off-season? Here's my take.

Buyouts?

I'd be tempted to buy-out Blake and Finger, but I wouldn't. The Leafs aren't going to win the Stanley Cup next year and every year we keep either player removes two years from their salary impacting the Leafs cap. Tucker's salary cap hit for buying him out last year was $1M this year and will be $1M for the next 5 years. I don't want that mistake repeated. I wouldn't buy anybody out. It's a short-term fix and we need long-term solutions.

Goaltending

The biggest problem is in goal. Toskala has one year left on his contract and I think he's worth the $4M. Let's keep him as our backup or part of a 1-2 tandem and maybe we can trade him at the deadline.

The Leafs should focus on signing the best free-agent goalie they can. Tim Thomas? Khabibulin? Craig Anderson? Martin Biron? That's a pretty good list. I wouldn't trade for a starting goalie unless it was a steal. Why trade what you can sign for free? Martin Gerber is another free-agent option, but I'd give him 1 year max. I wouldn't give anybody a no-trade clause.

I wouldn't put much stock in Justin Pogge anymore. Let's leave him with the Marlies for now and test him again in 2010, unless he pulls off a miracle in the AHL playoffs. That would change everything.

Defense

Set ($19M). Kubina, Kaberle, White, Finger, Schenn, Van Ryn are the starting six. Frogen is the 7th. Stralman could fill-in for injuries and I might even give him a shot at making the club.

BTW, if we give $6M to a 2nd goaltender, then we are already at $29M and $29M for an NHL defense is rather high, especially for one that isn't all that good.

Forwards

Returning fowards ($16M); Blake, Hagman, Ponikarovsky, Stempniak, Stajan and Kulemin. We'll have to resign Grabovski for about $1.5M. I would keep Jamal Mayers and John Mitchell as fourth liners and 13th forwards with the club or with the Marlies. I wouldn't be afraid to lose either on waivers either. I'd also give Jeremy Williams and Jiri Tlusty shots at making the big club next season.

This leaves us 4 forward positions to fill. One of these will be filled by our first round draft pick. The Leafs should get a high pick and most of the talent is at center. I would do everything to move up in this draft, as the talent is thick. Tavares, Hedman and Duchesne are the prizes. It might be difficult to trade up and get Tavares. Both Hedman and Duchesne might be available for a reasonable price.

Now we have 3 forward positions left to fill. I really like Andre Deveaux and we can have him for minimum. The Leafs need a right-handed centerman that can win faceoffs (Dominik Moore $1.5M?). This leaves us a little bit of room to pick up a free-agent forward to fill out the lineup with a tough guy that can play.

Bonus

Sign Ponikarovsky to an 2-yr extension at $3-3.5M. Sign Stajan to a 1-yr extension at $2M. They are unrestricted at the end of 2009-10.

Result

Still not a great team. If we re-signed Gerber to a $1.5M deal instead of going for a #1 goalie, then we'd have salary room to go after a premier forward, but I think you build from the net out.